Mum will be flying high if Burgess boys reach the Rugby League World Cup final

Friday 8 November 2013 09:05 BST

Julie Burgess’s mobile phone will be busy tomorrow morning. As she does before each game in which her sons play, she will send them good luck texts.

All three of the Burgess brothers in England’s World Cup squad will line up against Fiji tomorrow, with Julie watching from home in Sydney in the early hours of the morning.

Of that trio, the youngest, George, is the only one to start each of England’s pool matches, his twin Tom on the bench for the Australia game (a 28-20 defeat) and Sam banned from the 42-0 victory over Ireland.

Should England make it to the final, she will travel over from Australia to watch but not until then, putting on additional pressure for the siblings to get the job done for the rest of the tournament.

“Mum’s pretty busy with work [in a school] but she’s still finding time to watch the games,” said George.

“She’s planning to come over for the final if we make it there, although we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”

The mobile number of the actor Russell Crowe has yet to flash up on any of the brothers’ phones, despite the actor playing a key role in bringing them to Australia to play their club rugby with his South Sydney Rabbitohs.

But there is a sense that the Burgesses could yet produce the Hollywood ending that Crowe is so used to starring in. On paper, they should prove too good for Fiji at the KC Stadium in Hull tomorrow and, if they get the better of New Zealand in their scheduled semi-final, they will get a second crack at Australia in the big one.

George, 21, has faced a battle to get fit for the match following a knee injury sustained in the dismantling of Ireland, the highlight of which was an opening 25 minutes in which England made the Irish look second rate.

“I’ll be fine,” said George, probably the least talkative of the four brothers (oldest Luke, 26, also plays for the Rabbitohs but failed to earn World Cup selection). “I was only taken off really as a bit of a luxury as we had that big lead over Ireland already so there was no need to take the risk.

“The result was good but the team still talk about playing the full 80 minutes which we didn’t do against Ireland but we want to do that against Fiji.”

There has been negative conjecture of life inside the England camp following the drinking session after the shock warm-up defeat against Italy, which led to Gareth Hock’s removal from the squad.

Then this week Zak Hardaker withdrew from the tournament citing personal reasons.

But George paints a different picture of the England set-up under head coach Steve McNamara.

“He’s great, really,” added Burgess. “He’s great at bringing the boys together and he’s a smart coach that’s very good at preparing the team to win matches. As for the squad, we’re just professional enough to get on with the job.”

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, the 21-year-old National Rugby League rookie of the year, who only made his England debut in that warm-up game against Italy last month, is relishing the opportunity.

The last time he played on English soil was 18 months ago for Bradford Bulls’s second team.

Of the World Cup experience to date, he added: “It means absolutely everything to me, pulling on the England jersey, winning in the England jersey. It’s a dream come true.”

The ultimate dream would be to make that final and beat Australia. Fiji lie in wait first.

Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby, is the official charity partner for Rugby League World Cup 2013. To buy tickets and donate, quote SPOON rlwc.2013.com/tickets